ACU will face off against Grand Canyon University on its final road trip of the 2024 season Friday through Sunday in a series that will feature the top two teams in the Western Athletic Conference just nine days before the conference tournament.
ACU will enter as the two seed with a 15-9 conference record, while GCU holds the No. 1 seed at 19-5, riding a seven-game win streak after sweeping California Baptist.
Both teams have had successful seasons, leading to their high WAC rankings. Grand Canyon’s 25-18 record includes impressive wins over Power Five conference schools, including The University of Southern California, Ohio State University, University of Nebraska, and Arizona State University, and two wins over the University of Arizona, the second of which ended in a run-rule, 24-8 in seven innings.
ACU’s Power Five wins this season include Baylor and TCU. It overcame a late deficit in Waco to win 6-4 while beating up on TCU with a final score of 8-3 in Abilene. The Wildcats also played games against Oklahoma State University, Texas Tech University, Brigham Young University and the University of Texas.
The identity of the Wildcats during Power Five games isn’t placed solely in the result, but rather in the fight and effort displayed against high-level opponents, said head baseball coach Rick McCarty. As an example, he pointed to the Wildcats’ late rally that came up short against BYU on March 29, in which they fell 8-6.
“There’s been a good standard set here,”McCarty said. “Gotta get us out 27 times – 27 hard outs.”
The record against Power Five conference schools may not look impressive for ACU this year, but the experience gained through those games has propelled McCarty’s squad to where they are now.
The Power Five games early in their 2023 season forced the Wildcats to adapt and focus on their team culture, said Gino D’Alessio, senior utility player from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“We’ve had some tough road stretches,” D’Alessio said. “I think that’s really helped us to build that camaraderie.”
The difficult road games the team played in will come to fruition as ACU travels to play a talented GCU team, said Miller Ladusau, graduate outfielder from Heath.
“Once we go to GCU, it’s going to be important that we’re all aligned,” he said.
The adversity will help ACU against a tough GCU team. Its biggest strength as a team is going to be its pitching. McCarty attributed the success as a pitching staff to the variation and work of his starters.
“I do think we’ve got a rotation that can pitch in Arizona,” McCarty said.
Pitching in the postseason will come down to their starters getting off on the right foot and having the bullpen come in afterward to close the deal.
“I think we’ve also got some bullpen pieces that can go out there, when called on, and pound the strike zone with some pretty good stuff,” said McCarty.
He said he’s confident in the team’s pitching overall while also acknowledging the depth and versatility of the athletes individually.
“It always starts with starting pitching,” McCarty said. “I do think we’ve got a starting rotation that can pitch in Arizona. We’ve been able to play quite a few games in Mesa the last two years. The next step for us is to win it.”
